Note
No grains, sugar or dairy OH MY.
Shrekfeet encouraged me write about this experience thus far, so here goes! For Lent I gave up grains, sugar (clarify--no refined sugar or sugar substitutes except for stevia) and dairy. The BIG trifecta. Decided on lent because I felt like I could use all the leaning into I could with with big guy upstairs. My goals for doing this were to feel better, lose weight, and see what kind of difference it made in my bod. At this point, I am about a month in. As a caveat, I decided not to be so strict when we were in Puerto Rico (decided to do the trifecta after booking the trip) but more on that later. As a note, I am also food logging to be sure I am keeping up with nutrients and not going over the deep end on calories. For those who don't want to read the whole narrative, here's the one month (with a few day break in Puerto Rico) I lost 6 lbs, skin and eyes are lots clearer, I do get very hungry at times and the food takes about a half hour to satiate--so I have to stay ahead of hunger, heart rate during exercise is some lower (8-10 bpm) no general puffiness, feel calmer and think a bit more clearly and generally a better mood.
Gotta admit, Fat Tuesday was a BLAST. But by day 3 into this I was so frustrated, and that next week was awful. I had gained a few pounds, got a bad cold, felt totally drained, didn't know what to eat, feared the calories of the convenient foods I could eat. Hated it, hated it, hated it. Valentine's came and went. No chocolate this year. Then my husbands birthday and he wanted a big chocolate cake. I wanted to rub my face in that cake. Sigh. I didn't.
After about 2 weeks in we went to Puerto Rico. The things I thought I missed most were half and half, cheese and chocolate. I was surprised that when I did try the half and half in my coffee it didn't seem different from the almond milk and coconut milk. That was a surprise. I did get a salad at one point that had parmesan cheese, and OMG that tasted so so so so good. The little bit of chocolate I tasted didn't bowl me over which also surprised me. One night we did eat at a Rojo, and the rolls were AMAZING. I still think about those rolls. For snacks I did bring my trifecta approved snacks, and for the most part observed the trifecta and after a few days went right back because even with the few items, I didn't feel so hot.
Came back and dove right back in without hesitation. My birthday came and went. I tried a "vegan" cheesecake recipe with no sweetener and put mashed cherries on top. That was tasty. I have found that dates, figs, dried apples and most nuts (no peanuts) work well for slightly longer workouts. Making my own yogurt with coconut milk, eat a lot of salad, sweet potatoes, fresh fruit and veggies, lean meats, and such things. I am doing a bike race and a 6 hour rogaine in the same weekend coming up, so curious how fueling will go for that. I have made a protein shake with MRM vanilla, banana, almond milk and almond butter that takes the edge off on longer stuff.
Food logging is a pain, but it helps me stay on track and to monitor how different nutrients and macros are going in a day.
I miss miss miss ice cream.
At 12:01 easter morning I am rather convinced I will want a few things. However, I can feel why this works. I think I will continue with "breaks" I need to figure out what the breaks could look like that won't undo all the good. Also, for longer races, I will probably have to figure something out, but I will do that after lent.